Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-05-29
The study Of English r.iicrature.

This Study Of English Literature.
Mr.. Leslie stephen contributes an in
tercdiBg article on this subject to the
CCjhdW N0gozinc. Referring to the
study of Philology he says Philolo-
gy j.. Of course, most important and
interesting study An investigation of
the great instrument Of thought and of
its processes of development has a
genuine interest for philosophers, logi-
Clans, and even for historians and
antiquaries. as well as for lite
Tary students. Fhilologists have to
study the same documents rs men of
letters. They have TO read Chaucer
and Shakespeare, though with a very
different purpose. So a chemist may
study a picture as well rs an art critic.
The main interest OF the one is in the
pigments to which it owes its color, as
the main interest Of the other is in the
effect upon the Imagination of a par
ticrlar combination Of cOlors. The
philologists, as such, can tell you the
history Of a word used by Shakespeare,
but as a philologist he has nothing to
DO with the imaginative force of the
sentence in which the word occurs.
So far rs the language is obsolete, so
far as it has become n dead language.
he can do something for you. He
can supplement the instruction which,
as to the great bulk Of the language.
was already given in your nursery.
Here and there he clears away an OBJ
security or points some allusiOn no
longer manifest and We will, if You
please, be duly thankful to him, and
tell him that he has rendered us a real
service. But, however valuable for
other purposes, We must admit that he
is not a guide to the kind Of knowledge
which We desire. but an humble at
tendant who has cleared few STUN
bling blocks from Our path.
With regard TO the connection be-
tween the classics and English itera-
ture Mr.. Leslie Stephen takes the
modern side -: eff / were asked Che
says 60 name some one whose soul
would really ring like an echo to the
majestic language of the great Puritan
think that my mind, and the minds
of great many of lis, would sponta-
neOuslv recur to the name of one who
has told us that he knows little Latin
and TO Creek mean Mr. John
Bright. He cannot, he says. very
frankly. and it is a misfortune for him,
appreciate Plato. But that defect is
clearly compatible with uncqualled mas
teIy of some of the noblest strains of
English tlOuuence, and it would be in
credible that man who can use the
instrument so skilfuly should not ap.
preciate its use by others There is
vast difference between what is called
knowing a things history and really
knowing the thing itself between
really having an ear for music and
knowing how, for example, modern
harmony has grown out of stunning
on some prehistoric, barbarous tom
tom No amount OF such knowledge
Will give you the ear. nor will any
knowledge of the relations between
English and classical literature of itself
cudow YOU with the true faculty
for Ucrceiving the beauties of
either. We cannot honestly deny
the fact that many OF our great
est writer's owed little or nothing to
any classical training, even when they
possessed it. 1t is enough 70 run over
the bare names of Shakespeare. and
Bunyan, and Defoe, and Burns. and
Dickens. to say nothing OF many less
distinguished Goblet wrote incom-
parably better English than DR.. Parr,
and NJ Bright has a style very supe-
nor tO-I will no; give a name. Crit
cism requires wider knowledge,
though loss genius. than original an
thorship; but ! cannot discover that
our finest critic of some of the most
important English literature mean
Charles Lamb-owed anything to his
scanty Scholarship
On the subject OF d" the best books -
nIr. Leslie Stephen writes as follows {:
Some distinguished men have recent
w been amusing Themselves with the
luso,uhie problem, " hich are the best
hundred books ? J say insolubie be
cause to ny mind the best book for any
man is that in which he takes most IN
torcst; and "a mems powers and tastes
vary indefinitely, and there is nopowcr
and no taste which may not be st;mu
lated 10y reading, so the suitability Of
books depends upon the idiosyncraSy
OF the reader. Whichever
rouses his mind most and commands
lis synpatlies most powerfully is il all
probability the best for him. Litera-
ture represents all the reasonings, and
feelings, and passions of civilized men
in al ages. Is Coleridge says:
All thoughts, all passions. all desires.
Whatever stirs this mortal frame.
All are but ministers Of Love,
And feed his sacred fame.
We may apply the words to genius.
90 select any particular variety rs best
for all IL as absurd as to say that every
man ought to be a priest, or that every
man ought to be a soldier. But this
NAV say, take hold anywhere, read
what you really like, and not what
some one tells You that you ought to
like; Let your reading be part OF youl
lives.
Bahia juarezii.
Speaking of this singular species OF
dahlia the Prdirie Farmer says its cul
ture 10 very easy, not differing from
that Of the commOner kinds, but it is
probably better adapted to flower from
ola roots than VounO cuttings. rs IL is